A NATION CHALLENGED: PUBLIC RELATIONS; Hollywood Enlists Ali's Help To Explain War to Muslims

Hollywood, in search of a pitchman to explain America and its war to the Muslim world, has recruited Muhammad Ali.

The writers, producers and studio executives who have formed their own campaign to bolster America's image abroad believe that Mr. Ali will have special credibility with an audience believed to be deeply suspicious of the United States. In the 1960's, he rattled American conventions by converting to Islam, then defied the American government by refusing to serve when drafted, an act that cost him his world heavyweight title.

''Here is a guy who was wrung dry when he refused to serve. He has since undergone a glorious redemption and therefore he's credible,'' said Jack Valenti, president of the the Motion Picture Association of America, which is overseeing what is loosely called Hollywood 9/11, the entertainment industry group that is contributing to the war effort.

Mr. Valenti has said, and several Hollywood executives confirmed, that Mr. Ali has tentatively agreed to do a one-minute public service announcement designed for broadcast in several translations over networks like Al Jazeera, the Middle East Broadcasting Centre transmitted to the region from London and the Lebanese Broadcasting Corporation in Beirut.

Although Hollywood 9/11 wants to avoid being seen as a government propaganda arm, the announcement's themes parallel some of the administration's. ''Ali will hopefully be able to convey the idea that Muslims in America lead a free life, practice their religion in a form in which they choose to practice it,'' Mr. Valenti said. The second point: ''It's not a war against Islam. It's a war against murderers who kill innocent people.''

The public service announcement would be the first product for overseas consumption to come from Hollywood 9/11. The group was formed after industry executives met Nov. 11 with Karl Rove, senior advisor to President Bush, to discuss lending an independent hand to the war effort. Though the military campaign in Afghanistan is entering its final stages, the spot is still weeks from taping.

The industry has been faster in sending messages to Americans at home and serving abroad, dispatching entertainers overseas and preparing a patriotic film montage for movie theaters, with clips of John Wayne from ''The Searchers'' and Spike Lee in ''Do The Right Thing.''

But for Hollywood, famous for its preoccupation with earthly delights, creating messages for audiences of Muslims in the Middle East, an arguably more ascetic place, is proving much more difficult.

The selection of Mr. Ali, 59, to make that pitch, just one of several ideas being considered for the overseas campaign, itself shows the complexities facing Hollywood in tailoring its message.

Mr. Ali's speech is often slurred, a symptom of Parkinson's disease. He is still one to sometimes throw tact aside, as he did last Monday in telling two ethnic jokes at a premiere party for ''Ali,'' the film about his life.

But there are few, if any, other Muslims who have achieved such prominence in the United States and in the Middle East that they could easily step into the role of being what Mr. Valenti has called ''the spokesman for Muslims in America.'' Mr. Ali became a symbol for the nation when in 1996, with a trembling arm, he lit the Olympic torch in Atlanta.

The Hollywood executives working on the project -- including representatives from Lions Gate Films, Sony Pictures Entertainment, major entertainment unions and AFMA, an industry international marketing arm -- face several other challenges.

The Hollywood 9/11 committee is relying on various Middle East experts to guide its course. A misplaced word could easily offend; a poorly chosen video image could alienate the target audience, many of whose members resent Hollywood's regular depiction of Muslims and Arabs as terrorists.

Meanwhile, many people the group is trying to reach might not have access to television. Many of those who do have it receive it via networks controlled by governments traditionally hostile to the United States.

With all this in mind, the recruitment of Mr. Ali almost seems like the easy part. ''He definitely wants to do that,'' said his spokeswoman, Jill Siegel. She added however that he was awaiting the details of the project before concluding an agreement.

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The committee had a direct line to Mr. Ali through one of its members, Hope Boonshaft, an executive vice president of Sony Pictures Entertainment, the studio behind ''Ali,'' and its domestic distributor.

Several committee members said they have considered approaching some others for later spots. They said they first thought of Mr. Ali because they found his appearance at the Sept. 21 telethon to raise money for victims of the Sept. 11 attacks and their families so powerful. Addressing the telethon crowd, Mr. Ali said, ''Islam is peace. It's against killing, murder, and the terrorists, and the people doing that in the name of Islam are wrong. And if I had a chance, I'd do something about it.''

But the selection of Mr. Ali was not without trepidation from some members of the group. ''The question we had was, 'Is Muhammad Ali someone who is universally respected?' '' said Victoria Riskin, president of the Writers Guild of America West and a committee member. ''We certainly have great admiration for him in this country and he is a Muslim. But there are many factions in the Islamic world. Will a message from him be well received?''

Several people in the Middle East -- journalists and academics -- said it would be. Mr. Ali's conversion to Islam and his refusal to serve in the military in the 1960's were followed closely throughout the Middle East. That he has become an endorser for Coke, the archetypal American brand, does not seem to have harmed his image.

''He is quite recognizable as a good symbol for someone who is Muslim and made it,'' said Dr. Abdel Moneim Said, director of the Al Ahram Center for Political and Strategic Studies in Cairo and host of an Egyptian public affairs television program, ''Behind The Events.'' ''He was a fighter against the Vietnam war and he refused conscription, so he is a guy with a stand.''

But some experts warn the committee members that Mr. Ali's presence does not relieve them of having to tread carefully. ''If it is something that, let us say, comes out as if he is either insensitive or coopted, that could lead to some sort of a negative impact,'' said Hossein Ziai, director of Iranian studies at the University of California at Los Angeles, who has met with group members.

The Hollywood 9/11 group also has discussed making documentaries about American life and other sorts of public service announcements for Muslims around the world, said Mark Amin, vice chairman of Lions Gate and a member of the group. But members of the group are concerned that their spots not come off as condescending, patronizing, or overly -- and unrealistically -- positive about life in America.

The Hollywood 9/11 group is also being careful not to work too closely with the White House, Mr. Valenti said. It is keeping the administration abreast of its activities, but it operates independently from Charlotte Beers, the former advertising executive who is now the undersecretary of state for public diplomacy. She is heading the administration's own publicity campaign.

''We're trying not to be the poodle of the White House,'' Mr. Valenti said. ''If it looks like you're under government supervision, you lose all of the integrity of the message.''

The Middle Eastern networks that the group hopes will carry its productions would be less likely to do so should they consider the messages no different from United States government propaganda, he said.

The group has not yet reached out to the various Muslim networks. Ibrahim Helal, chief editor of Al Jazeera, the Arab-language satellite news channel based in Qatar, said his network would certainly consider running the announcement with Mr. Ali.

But Fadi Ismail, editor for current affairs for the London-based Middle East Broadcasting Centre, one of the Middle East's largest television outlets, said it was not clear that his network would. Though Mr. Ali would be well received, he said, he did not know how effective the spot could ultimately be. He predicted that the Hollywood approach would not go deep enough in addressing the causes of Middle Eastern anger at the United States.

''Sometimes there is a naïveté in saying Arabs hate Americans,'' Mr. Ismail said. ''No. Arabs love lots of facets of the American way of life. But they're not fond of American policies.''

Ms. Riskin said the group recognizes that, even with Mr. Ali's help, it has a hard task ahead of it. ''This is a long process,'' she said. ''It's not just something that you put a Band-Aid on very quickly and you say that's it.''